——————————-
“Well?” Asked Frank.
“I’m sorry Mr Johnson, but we’ve not been able to determine anything,” replied the Professor. Asrah was laid naked on a table, after extensive examination.
“Nothing?”
“Her heart rate is 86bpm,” the Professor said. “Blood type AB-, which, while rare, isn’t anything unheard of in a human. Body temperature approximately 36.7 degrees. X-Rays reveal she’s perfectly normal on the inside, as far as we can tell. We could perform a vivisection, if you’d like.”
“No no, I wouldn’t want to break her. So you can’t find anything unusual about her?”
“No Mr Johnson. As far as we can tell, she’s a perfectly normal human girl. Though to be fair, you didn’t tell us what we were supposed to be looking for.”
“That girl is far from a perfectly normal human being. That girl could have you screaming in indescribable agony with a flutter of her eyelashes. That girl could knock over the Eiffel Tower with a light blow from her lips. That girl could bring down every government on Earth with nothing but a wiggle of her finger.”
The Professor looked at him with a look of confusion. He didn’t understand Mr Johnson’s fascination with this girl. She seemed like a perfectly ordinary girl, maybe 19 or 20. He wondered where she’d come from. Aside from the perfectly legitimate work he and his team did, their bosses tended to give them jobs which might appear to the outside world to be a tad immoral or illegal. Truth be told, the only reason he stayed where he was was because of the money. The government did love throwing taxpayers’ money at him.
The girl had seemed friendly enough. Certainly if she had indeed been kidnapped, she wasn’t letting on. She happily went along with anything she was asked, though she’d politely declined his offer for a cup of tea. The girl had however gotten rather less cheery when Mr Johnson had returned.
“That will be all then,” said Frank. “Come along, Asrah. And put some clothes on.”
“Yes Master.”
Asrah stood up, dressed herself, and walked out with her Master. Frank looked at her as they walked. How could she be so…human? This girl was an abomination, so how could she be so similar to a normal person? What gave her her magical abilities? The lamp they’d taken from Harry had been taken to be cracked open, but they’d failed at that too. A series of power drills had not even made a scratch. Nor had a 30-foot drop, or being hit with hammers. Being left to the mercy of a pot of thermite had simply warmed it up, and a dip in liquid nitrogen had achieved little other than cleaning it. It seemed indestructible.
——————————-
“Damn,” Antonella said. They’d gone back to the event, and discovered from one of the boys in the changing rooms that Harry had left with two men. “This is bad, this is very bad.”
“Why?” Daniel asked.
“Because they’ve got your brother!”
“Maybe he’s there willingly?”
“Oh he might have gone along willingly, yes. But whatever’s going on in there, he won’t be enjoying it.”
“What do we do then?” Charlie asked, slightly annoyed with herself for feeling compassion for Harry’s situation.
“Nothing,” Antonella replied.
“NOTHING!?” Daniel shouted. “That’s my big brother!”
“And I’m sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.”
“There must be something!”
“Daniel, we only have genie magic at our disposal. Genie magic cannot fight genie magic.”
“You mean they’ve got a genie at their disposal?”
“Their UK headquarters is practically swimming in magic. There’s definitely a genie there.”
“So there’s nothing we can do?”
“I’m sorry Daniel, your brother is gone.”
The three of them sat in silence for a while. Daniel had had his problems with his brother, particularly over the past few days, but he was still his brother. He dreaded to think what those people were doing to him. Charlie meanwhile was thinking. She was desperately trying to come up with a solution to this. She didn’t like Harry, but she didn’t want Dan to be unhappy. Her mind raced, looking for something, anything, which could help their predicament.
“Maybe…we get them to let Harry go?” Charlie asked.
“Oh yes, and how exactly do you expect to achieve that?” Asked Antonella. “Write them a strongly-worded letter? Harry is gone, accept it.”
“Well maybe some of us don’t want to give up so easily!”
“You know, I’m not so sure that’s such a bad idea,” Daniel said.
“It’s a terrible idea,” Antonella said.
“Hear me out,” Daniel said. “What if we make them think one of their superiors has ordered his release?”
“You’re suggesting we impersonate a high-up UN official?” Antonella asked.
“Would it work?”
“Of course not. They’re presumably reading everyone’s minds in there, which would mean they’d spot us right away. Mine and Charlie’s minds are shielded, while Daniel’s is completely exposed. Either way, we’re not getting in undetected.”
“Could we fake something?” Charlie asked. “Make them think they’re reading our minds, but actually they’re reading something else?”
Antonella thought about it.
“It’s possible,” she said. “But it would be very, very difficult.”
“But it’s possible?” Daniel asked hopefully.
“Yes,” Antonella replied. “But very very difficult.”
“But we can do it.”
“You’re determined to do this, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Fine then. Follow my instructions.”
——————————-
Frank returned to the facility, to help with the planning for the future events. Asrah was returned to her “bedroom”, which was more of a cell. Meanwhile, in an unmarked black van, Antonella, Charlie and Daniel were preparing themselves. She picked up her phone, and willed it to call directly to Frank’s. She picked it up, and spoke.
“So I hear you’ve captured one?” She asked.
“Yes sir, we’ve got him trapped now,” Frank replied. “He’ll be dead soon.”
“Unacceptable,” said Antonella. “Death is more than that boy deserves.”
“I agree, but it is the only solution.”
“Nonsense. There are plenty of ways to make the boy suffer. It’s why we’ve decided to have him transferred to the US for imprisonment and torture.”
“Sir, with all due respect, is that wise? We don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“You have his lamp, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then he’s harmless. Our agents will be there soon to collect him. You are to co-operate fully with all of their orders.”
“Yes sir.”
Antonella put the phone down, and Charlie and Daniel looked at her, Afericus sat next to them.
“That was incredible,” Charlie said, referring to the uncanny impression Antonella had done of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
“Not really,” Antonella said. “Incredible will be if we are able to pull this off. Remember, I’ll be projecting mock thoughts at you constantly for them to read, but if you see any signs of trouble, use Afericus to get out of there. Remember, you’re just going to get Harry out. Don’t try anything else.”
“Understood,” said Daniel.
“Good, because we’re here.”
The van, being driven by a mindless human construct, pulled up outside the facility. Charlie, Afericus and Daniel, dressed in what was essentially Men in Black cosplay, and magically altered to look 10 years older, got out of the van, and approached the entrance. They flashed their IDs, and were allowed in. They were led in by the guards, and met by Frank.
“You seem surprised to see us,” Charlie said.
“Well yes,” Frank said, analysing the three of them. “Our group had made our stance very clear. All Masters must die.”
“Your power comes from the UN,” Daniel said. “You’ve been overruled.”
“Don’t push it,” Antonella said in Daniel’s head. “Just get Harry and get out of there.”
“So…will you take us to him then?” Daniel asked.
“Very well,” Frank said. “But know that I am not happy about this.”
“Just take us to him,” Charlie said.